Chapter 6: Anna

After getting another bite to eat, the three of them made their way down to the basement where Van had his soul test done before. Once Alvaroz opened the door, he left to get the person that was to be Van’s personal maid, leaving Lorenzo to prepare the circle. As they waited a thought entered Van’s mind.

“So… what’s she like?”

Lorenzo looked up from what he was doing “hmm?”

“The girl that I'm going to bind. What’s she like?” Van asked again, a little nervous about meeting a stranger, especially one that he probably is going to spend his entire life with.

“Oh… her… she’s fine.”

Van picked up that, while the girl may be ‘fine’ Lorenzo’s attitude about it wasn’t. “Do you hate her?” he asked, trying to get an idea about what's going on.

“What?” Lorenzo seemed taken a bit by surprise, before stopping what he was doing and sighing. “ Sorry. I suppose it may seem like that. Honestly, I don’t hate her, I feel for her plight, I really do, my anger got the best of me. I-I just worry about it all. For the both of you.” he said

“She’s a good girl, really she is. But, it's hard considering…” Lorenzo trailed off, as if not sure how to continue. He remained like that, staring blankly, deep in thought before realizing he hadn’t finished the preparations, and got back to it.

“Sorry, your father can probably explain things better. Just wait for him to return.” he returned his focus to the task at hand, leaving Van worried and concerned.

“What kind of girl is she for Lorenzo to act like that? I hope it really is nothing.” Van thought as he waited for his father to return. “It does seem like he was honest though when he said he didn’t hate her, so what exactly is the problem?”

Van remained deep in thought like that for a long time. Both impatient and nervous for what’s to come next.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Alvaroz returned with the girl or girls in tow. Van blinked as if not believing what he was seeing. A dozen girls in two neat rows, barely older than him. They followed his father as he made his way towards the circle that Van was sitting in. All looking completely identical to one another, making that even more clear as they broke into four rows of three allowing him to see more of them.

Van was just able to prevent his jaw from dropping, but his eyes still bugged out a bit. There was no way he wouldn’t notice a dozen look-alikes walking about. Then realized that he didn’t get out much and that his dad said they were in the same position as him so they probably didn’t either.

He took a closer look. He was right. They looked completely identical, all of them, with the same doll-like pretty face, long black hair, and cool blue eyes. It was a bit unnerving how they moved almost in sync with one another. A memory from a past life tickled the back of his mind. The chances of octuplets all surviving birth to grow to childhood is a trillion to one or something like that. So what did that make a dozen? Also, wasn’t it supposed to be only one girl?

His father moved up to introduce them. “Van I would like you to meet Anna, Anna, Van” he said, moving his arm to encompass all the girls when he said the word Anna, as if to imply that all of them were Anna.

An awkward silence followed. Even Lorenzo seemed to lean away uncomfortably as ‘Anna’ and Van looked at each other.

Van decided to get a better look at who this ‘Anna’ was. Despite only appearing a little older than him, they carried with them a maturity that didn’t fit their body. As if something about them forced them to grow fast. All of them wore nothing but a black single piece dress, with white stockings and shoes.

The girl(s?) in turn stared hard at Van. their eyes roving every inch of his body, making him feel very exposed.

The silence continued. It was Alvaroz that broke the uncomfortable silence. He coughed to bring attention to himself. “Well… I see everyone is now acquainted with each other. how about we begin?” he looked to both sides.

All eyes turned to him. Staring at him with unspoken questions. He looked towards Lorenzo in hopes of help but got none as Lorenzo turned away, pretending to tap away at the magic panel in front of him. “Traitor!” but couldn’t really blame him for turning away.

“ I suppose I really should explain a few more things,” he thought as he looked towards his son and Anna. “ I suppose you both have a lot of questions. About what's going on and why. Well.. you both have special cases with your souls. They're not like others, but you already heard of all this before. Because of this both of you have lived sheltered lives.”

Alvaroz turned to Van “Van, the term for your problem is called, Soul Shattered. Where your soul core is broken into many little pieces, as you know.” he turned to Anna “Anna your problem is called Soul Jointed. Rarely found in twins. It's when two or more young and small souls are joined together to become one greater one. This is the case for all twelve of you. Twelve bodies, one overriding soul. You each have your own personalities, independent of one another. But you all share a single soul that affects the thinking and actions of all twelve of you.”

“I brought the both of you here together in hopes of creating a soul link. To use it as an anchor for the both of you to lean on each other and prevent each other from falling apart.” he looked towards Lorenzo “ I believe when the time comes, you both will be better off than before, though it might take some time to prepare for the both of you.”

Lorenzo turned. Eyes wide as something clicked into place. His first thoughts were “ Is He Crazy!?” but then when the idea settled in he paused as he marveled at the brilliance of it. “He wants to do a dual soul awakening!” he couldn’t believe it “How? How did you come up with such a crazy idea?” he asked Alvaroz.

Alvaroz smiled “ while true, I'm not as smart as you, or can come up with plans as elaborate and well thought out as you. I still have the notes you gave me, and my instinct that has helped us avoid death many times before.”

Lorenzo shook his head “ on any other people, it would be suicide, but considering everything, it actually increases the chances of survival for both of them exponentially!” He chuckled “ I must have gotten rusty if You can come up with a good idea!”

“I had a long time to think and worry Lore, not just for my son, but for Anna too. With them in mind, how could I not, as you say, gamble for a better chance” Alvaroz chuckled back.

Van and Anna looked back and forth, completely lost, and both a little annoyed about the sudden conversation happening over their heads.

“I don’t mean to interrupt but, How about you guys explain to us what’s going on?” Van said trying to hide said annoyance.

“Sorry,” Alavaroz said “we're just planning something for the future to increase the chances of survival for both you and Anna when the time comes for the both of you to soul awaken. Once you two are soul linked together, things will become a little clearer.”

“Okaaay… but that still doesn’t tell me what's going on or who she is.” Van said “ how is it even possible for there to be twelve of her? Why haven’t I heard of her before? Shouldn’t I know more about the person who I will probably be spending the rest of my life with?” he asked demanding answers.

A little voice spoke up, soft but clear “ I think the both of us would like to know a little more. Especially about who I am...” one of the Anna’s spoke, before returning to silence.

Lorenzo and Alvaroz gawked at Anna, almost in disbelief, much to Van confusion. Van didn’t know that the times that Anna has talked, were so far and few in-between that most forgot they could.

It was a long moment before Lorenzo and Alavroz snapped out of it. “Well…” Alvaroz said. Looking towards Lorenzo who hesitated, but in the end gave a nod “ I suppose you do have the right to know who she is. And so does she.” taking a more solemn and melancholy tone. “I honestly wished that I didn’t have to talk about this until you were a little older. When you were ready.” he said to Anna. “but if you feel like it's time to hear…”

All the Annas sat down on her knees on the cold hard ground, hands in front, back straight, eyes locked on Alvaroz. Bodily speaking that they were both willing and waiting for him to speak.

Alvaroz felt a little intimidated by her single-minded stare from several girls all sitting down in unison. He looked between her and Van. both of them waiting.

In defeat he too sat down to tell his story, Lorenzo falling suit, already creating a small orb of light in between all of them that will create images to match whatever Alvaroz would say.

“This was honestly not what I was expecting to do today” Alvaroz began “ but I suppose everyone should know how all this came about, though I don’t like to remember, it affects everyone here today, including you Van.” gathering his thoughts he began.

“A long time ago, when I was young, I always wanted to explore the world. It was a dream of mine that was shared with my older sister. She was the best older sister a guy could ask for. It was decided that while she learned to run the barony, I’ll go out to explore, and when she was done, we would switch so that she could get a chance to see the world.” Alvaroz smiled, as if looking at something from a great distance.

“Me and Thea, my fiance, left together. She was the heir of a county and a strong ally of ours” Van’s ears perked up at that, wondering who this Thea person was, but decided to save any questions for later.

“On our adventure’s we met up with many colorful characters and made many friends as well. That’s how I met Lillia, Lorenzo, and a few others. Together our group was unstoppable.” Lorenzo seemed a little happy at that, showing pictures of their meeting, first of Lorenzo in a big city. Ending with Lillia in a large white city that seemed to be floating, or perhaps was very high up.

“Together, we faced threats and monsters that would make anyone piss their pants and run!’ Alvaroz said with a feral grin. Lorenzo’s images changed to show them fighting off giant monsters, lizards and other grotesque things.

“Thought I suppose… nothing good was meant to last.” Alvaroz said sadly as an image of a dead companion came into view. “I wrote a letter about the death to my sister, and my failure of protecting a village from powerful monsters and all those who died. but in my saddened state and slight drunkenness from trying to forget, as well as the pain my body was in from the battle that killed one of my friends and almost me as well. Well... I wasn’t very clear about what happened and gave the wrong impression of what happened, I even thought I was going to die, so I stupidly wrote that down, telling my sister to hope for the best.”

Alvaroz suddenly slammed his fist down on the ground, already tears forming in his eyes. “I was to be the heir in case something happened to my sister. So without a spare, if something happened to her…” he shook his head “ somehow the word got out, it was presumed that I and Thea were dead. Thea, as I said, was the heir of a county that was an ally of ours, so they were in a scramble to figure something out since she was an only child.”

“And that's when our enemies made their move” Alavroz growled “ a long time ago, we the Vran’s used to be one house, one family. Until a schism broke us apart. One into the Vranater which is our house, the other the Vrankarra. No one knows what it was that broke us apart, the only thing that was known was that we hated each other. This continued for so long and for so many generations that the Vranater’s and the Vrankarra’s had no blood relation anymore and still hated each other.”

Alvaroz took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “The Vrankarras took the chance to launch an attack. My family was in despair and grieving. They never saw it coming. And with our allies unable to move and paralyzed due to Thea’s supposed death, they were all on their own.” he gripped his hands till blood came out.'' It was a massacre, my family gave as good as they got, but it still wasn’t enough. They were entirely wiped out.”

Alvaroz was silent for a long time, as if gathering his thoughts. “When I finally recovered from my wounds, I sent multiple letters to my family. None of them were replied to. Worried we set out to return to my home… only to find it almost completely gone… burnt out as if set on fire. Some parts of the castle and the surrounding town are still being repaired to this day.” he looked up “ you could say I found out what happened the hard way. And I wanted revenge.”

The image changed to one of a burnt-out castle, the walls still holding on strong, but everything else gone.

“We went to Thea’s place, gathered an army, and did what they did to us, and killed every last one of them.” he paused then looked towards Anna “well… not all of them.”

Making Van’s eyes widen as he looked between his father and Anna.

“At the time Lillia was pregnant with my child, and so was Thea… due to circumstances I don’t want to get into. So it was only me and Lorenzo who stormed the Vrankarra stronghold. I personally killed a few with my own sword.” Alvaroz sighed

“As I went, charging through the castle, I found her. Verona Vrankarra. A slip of a girl, young, pregnant, terrified, wrapping her hands around her belly to protect it. As if that would have done any good.” The image changed to a young lovely looking vampiress, eyes desperate, body shaking. The image almost seemed to physically hurt Alavroz.

“I couldn’t do it… she was too young… if it was the other way around the Vrankarra’s wouldn’t care... but I did. I learned a lot from exploring the outside world. So I like to think it was that and the memory of my sister, that helped make my next decision.” he closed his eyes.

“I spared her. I spared her and brought her into my home. I promised to take care of her, that the feud between her family and mine was over. No more Vranater. No more Vrankarra. Just... Vran…” Alvaroz lapsed back into silence, before speaking once more.

“It took a while for her to open up. But she did... eventually… I would visit her often, she was given everything she could wish for, and she didn’t wish for much. Only that her baby would be born nice and healthy.” Alvaroz had a small smile on his face at the memory, that slowly died leaving nothing.

“Life can be very unfair. She didn’t have two or four or six, but twelve.” he shook his head. “How is that fair? There's no way for twelve children to be born. I first thought it was a cruel joke when I heard it. When I found out it was true. I didn’t know what to do.”

He looked towards Anna “ but your mother was strong, she refused to give up. She made me promise that I would do what is necessary for her baby to live. I didn’t understand why she always referred to you as singular, but I did when you were born... She knew after a certain point that her body would go into forced labor once her belly swelled to a certain mass. So she effectively shut down most of her body's responses by forcing herself into a comatose state. Then I hired the best doctors and healers I could to watch over her and prepare for what was to come next…”

Anna seemed to be drinking in every word Alvaroz said. Lorenzo couldn’t bear to show what happened next and made the image dissipate. Van was similar to Anna but with horrified fascination as he had an idea about what was going to happen next.

“Once you were full-grown, or at least as close to it as possible, it was time to take you out. Though due to the state of your mother, we couldn’t wake her. So we had to cut you out instead.” Alvaroz looked down, eyes downcast. “As we took that last of you out. By some miracle your mother woke, she grabbed hold of my arm, slightly incoherent she said your name over and over again.... Anna, Anna, her name is Anna, please take care of her, please protect her, make our families whole...Your mother didn’t survive. But I think she wanted you two to be together.” he took a deep shaky breath. “ I’m sorry Anna, I couldn’t save your mother.” he couldn’t bear to look at her.

The room became silent. To the point that it was deafening. No one moved or said anything. And it remained that way for a long time.

It was Anna who broke the silence. “I see. Let us continue.” and returned to silence.

“Wait, you don’t mind being blood bound to me? After everything that's happened?” Van asked, shocked by how cold and callous she sounded about it all.

Anna shrugged as if it was no big deal to her. Making Van realize that she was either far more mature than he first thought or very very cold. “Then again we both have grown up faster thanks to our circumstances, perhaps she feels like this is for the best? Or am I missing something?” thought Van.

Alvaroz expelled a gust of air from his lungs. Much of the tension leaving his body. “Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting her to take it so well, at least she isn’t against the binding.” he thought as he looked at Anna. he still felt the guilt of being unable to save her mother. “I hope my son is up to the task of satisfying all of them when they are older. I hope she appreciates what I have given, or perhaps she already is aware and does appreciate it?” he shook his head trying to refocus on the task at hand.

“Well,” Alvaroz said “ since she wants to continue, let's do so” Turning to Van “blood binding isn’t so hard for a vampire. You have awoken to your power from the ritual from this morning, so I will guide you on how to use it for this binding.” he got up, motioning Van to do the same. “Since you have just awoken, you have no control over your power, and it will be like that for a long time to come, so it will be me guiding your power in order to do what comes next. Please stand beside me.”

Van walked up to his father who was now standing in front of one of the Anna’s. Once he was close enough his father placed a hand on his back and moved him directly in front of an Anna who was still sitting down.

“Now Van” Alvaroz said, still having his hand on Van’s back “I'm going to circulate some of my power into you to get your power moving. I’m also going to need a little of your help so please do as I say. Do you understand?” Van nodded, a little nervous as to what is to come next. “Good”

Van felt a strange energy from the hand on his back, going through his body making him shudder unexpectedly. “ it can be a bit uncomfortable at first, but please bear with me.” Alvaroz said, moving his power and forcing it to circulate inside Van. “Now, I want you to imagine the energy you feel moving throughout your body going into your right index finger.

Van did so, trying to imagine the strange feeling inside of him moving into his finger. The energy from his father, helping by pushing it along as well.

“Good. you're doing great. Now imagine that energy is coalescing into a drop of blood and that drop of blood is connected to you by a string.” Van tried, partially closing his eyes in concentration. He felt his father’s energy forcing it into the proper shape, helping him along. “Now try to force the drop out, even if it means that it creates a small wound on your finger for it to do so.” Van did so and felt some pain in his finger as he forced the drop out. It clung to his finger, a strange feeling of intimacy with the drop pervaded Van’s being.

Alvaroz nodded “ now to give it to a willing individual” he turned to Anna “please open your mouth.” she did so without complaint, her cute little white fangs showing. “Van, since this is your first time, please insert your finger into her mouth, since we don’t want you to miss.”

Van looked up at his father, incredulous. Then back at the Anna in front of him. “Really?”

“Oh! You are right. Anna, can you please speak the words?” Alvaroz politely asked remembering that they had to do something else first.

Anna closed her mouth and nodded. “I, Anna, do swear to obey and protect my master. To have no other than him, to give mind, body and soul, to his needs. To offer my life in exchange for his own. My heart in exchange for his happiness. So do I swear on my blood, so do swear on my soul. Now and forever, and in every life.”

Van gawked at Anna, as he was not expecting that. And if Van were to look up at his father’s face, he would see that even he wasn’t expecting anything other than a normal oath. Lorenzo, who was paying attention to his panel, turned wide-eyed at her.

“Is she serious!?” Alvaroz thought. “The greater the oath, the more powerful it becomes! The blood bind already is powerful as is, and she added more on top of it! But if she means it, that will make the soul linking even easier...” still, he couldn’t help but ask. “Anna, are you sure?”

She nodded and opened her mouth once more, as if to say ‘that’ is her answer.

“ I see… I understand. Van!” Van jumped a little and turned to look at his father. “ please continue.” a little unsure Van did as he was told and placed his finger into her mouth. Anna closed her lips on the finger gently and gave a little suck and lick before releasing it. As she swallowed, Van felt the drop of blood enter her body and spread out until he felt almost all of it. A strange feeling of connection between him and her was beginning to form.

Alvaroz nodded “ it will take some time for the effects of the blood binding to take, anywhere from a few days to a few weeks as her body changes a bit and your connection with her grows. It will feel weird at first, but that's normal, and you will get used to it. Now then, on to the next one.”

Van was a little surprised that he had to do it again, but then he realized that it made sense since there were twelve bodies even if she had one overriding soul and soul realm.

His father helped as Van went through all the other Annas, sometimes taking a lot longer as he felt drained and Lorenzo gave him things to drink to recover his energy with. Every single Anna gave the same oath, not a one deviated from it.

Finally, after feeling very exhausted, he plucked his finger from the last Anna’s mouth. Moved back to his circle and sat down, or more collapsed into it.

Alvaroz chuckled a little at his son, but understood how he felt. He too was a little tired from helping his son go through every Anna. “lets all, take a small rest as we wait for Lorenzo to do the finishing touches on the circle”

“No need, just finished,” Lorenzo said, unconcerned by how everyone else was tired. “But don’t worry, after all of that, this will be the easy part.” turning to Anna “Girls would you please move into that circle in front of Van. try to make sure you all fit.”

Anna got up without complaint, she squeezed into the circle that Lorenzo designated and did her best to make sure that no other ‘her’ was remotely outside of it.

“Thank you.” Lorenzo said “now, I'm going to activate the circle, and the next thing you know, the both of you will be soul linked. First, there will be some pain, but nothing the both of you have felt before with the other awakenings.”

Van looked surprised “I thought I was the only one that went through the awakenings. But i guess not. I guess it makes sense if she’s like me she might have problems similar to me.” he thought as if looking at Anna for the first time.

Lorenzo continued “ you both will feel a prick in your soul realms, followed by a slight sense of vertigo. Don’t worry, that’s normal. Van will be the dominant soul in this link and Anna will serve. Please let me remind you Anna” He said looking at her “ while the binding helped on top of that oath you gave. If you don’t fully give in, it can be bad for the both of you.

Anna nodded.

“Alright then, let's begin” Lorenzo activated the circle. It was reminiscent of the first and second soul test. The pillars rose and power hummed in the air as magical circles took a 3D shape.

Van was sitting in the middle, nervous, as he waited. When all of a sudden, pain wracked his body. But as quickly as it came it went. After that, something pierced into him, and he felt like he was falling. He couldn’t tell which way was up or down, or even left or right. Finally after what felt like a few minutes, it ended and a new feeling came into him through the hole that was made through the pierce. A strange feeling of ‘other’ entered it, and he felt someone else's presence.

When Van came to he was panting on the floor. Across from him, Anna didn’t seem to have fared any better. Yet he felt a strange feeling of connection between them.

“Wonderfull! Wonderful! No rejection at all! Everything went perfectly!” Lorenzo said laughing like a mad scientist. “This is nice, very nice. Everything is showing that they linked perfectly. Of course, there are still some problems.” he said as he tapped and clicked things on his panel. “But for the most part that can be fixed given time.” he looked at Alvaroz “ a few year's time. At least four or five, to be exact.”

“What about the mind awakening?” Alvaroz asked.

“They can still go through that given a year or so.” Lorenzo replied

Alvaroz sighed, he felt like he was doing that a lot lately. “How are you two feeling?” he said to Van and Anna.

“Fine?” Van said, a little disoriented, but the feeling leaving fairly quickly. Anna herself slowly got up from her prone position and sat down properly.

“Alright. Then follow me. It's time to take you two to your new room” Alvaroz said, waiting for them to get up. Once they did and had gotten close, he turned to leave with Van and Anna in tow. Leaving Lorenzo to finish up.

They left the basement in quick order. Going up the stairs all the way to the second floor and taking a left. Going down the hall they passed Lorenzo’s study and then what Van presumed to be the library. Van was surprised by how late it was, they went right past dinner and into bedtime, thankfully, for some reason, he wasn't’ very hungry.

As they walked down the hall they stopped at an intersection going only right and left. Alvaroz turned to the left and made a sweeping gesture. “ this entire wing of the castle is now yours. Most of the rooms are empty and waiting for you to fill them as you wish.” then moved on not giving Van much time to process.

Once reaching towards the end of the hall he stopped at a door. “This here is your new room. It has already been filled with all your things and then some.” he opened the door revealing a truly massive room with a giant arched window in front and the biggest bed Van had ever seen. There were multiple wardrobes and drawers, a work desk and a door on either side of the room.

Alvaroz turned on the light switch allowing them to see better making Van realize that it had gotten a lot darker than he realized. It was already nighttime. But then again, rituals can take longer than those who it affects realize. “All your clothes have already been packed in, and anything else you might need we can get later.” he then walked to the door on the far left.

“This is the bathroom.” he opened it revealing an almost equally massive bathroom with a large tube enough to fit a dozen or more people. The first section was the changing area, with baskets for clothes. on either side were four doors that lead into small rooms he presumed were the toilets. The second section contained showerheads and stools on tiled flooring and drains and the third was the massive bathtub itself.

“It has been fitted with a more modern look. The castle is going through a bit of a restructuring, so if you heard construction noises, that's what it's about.” he turned to point at the door on the other end. “That door leads to the second bedroom, for when you get older and have more under your command. It has its own bathroom and bunk beds for the masses and the regulars. You’ll understand when you get older.” Alvaroz said, already trying to cut Van off from asking what he means. “What do you think?”

“It's amazing!” Van said. “ is this really all mine? and what do you mean when I'm older?”

“Some things are best left unanswered until you have matured.” he bent down to give his son a loving hug. “ you stay strong alright. Remember we love you very much. Okay?” Van nodded. “Good…” turning to Anna “Anna, you are also a part of this family, now more than ever, so this also goes for you. We will do everything we can for you. You understand right?” Anna nodded.

Alvaroz let go of Van and walked towards the door. “Alright. Good night you two. Sweet dreams.” he turned to leave “oh!” turning around. “Please make sure to wash yourselves before going to bed.” then looking at Anna “think of it as your first task as Van’s personal Maid.” and with that, he was gone.

As Alvaroz left. Van felt like something was off. “Wait… good night you two? What did he mean by that?” Then he realized that he was surrounded by the Annas with no escape route. “I have a bad feeling about this...”

Immediately they were upon him. Lifting him up over their heads and carrying him off, “Ah! Wait! Wha!?” Van gave little yells of complaint as he was bodily moved into the bathroom, struggling all the while. But it was no good. He was surrounded and outnumbered and they moved insync with each other to prevent him from escaping.

Once in the changing room they took off his clothes and then their own. At first he was terrified about what they would think once they got him naked and realized that he wasn’t like other boys. With an overly large member and a few missing pieces. But if they were, they didn’t show it, or seem to care.

Then they dragged him into the section with the shower heads and stools. They went to work on washing him. It was rough at first, but they proved to be quick learners making it somewhat enjoyable once he had time to calm down and stopped struggling as much. But who wouldn’t in his place?

After the shower they put him into the bath. Massaging his shoulders, back and arms. Kneading the lotion into him. Van was still absurdly embarrassed by it all, mortified in fact. despite it feeling quite nice. “Is this what it's like having a personal maid? Am I going to have to get used to this for the rest of my life?” Van was already a little used to being forcefully cleaned by the other maids, even though he felt like he could do it himself and tried to whenever he could. But it was the first time that it was done by those of similar age to himself or done quite so forcefully to the point where he had no say. He tried not to look directly at their naked bodies, and was glad that he was too young for that sort of thing.

Once they were done cleaning and drying him and each other they moved him back into the bedroom and changed him into his sleeping clothes. “Well, at least it's over.” he thought to himself only to be proven wrong, as they once more bodily lifted him over their head.

“Not again!” Van was starting to develop a fear of heights from all of this. Yet he wasn’t as afraid as before. Not of falling he still was afraid of that. But at the actions of Anna, as he sensed no malice from them with this new connection he had with them.

They placed him in the center of the overly large bed. One Anna went to close the curtains of the window, and another went to turn off the lights. When done they all piled on top of the bed, all naked except for him.

“Wait!? They're sleeping here!?” Then he remembered not just what his father said, but the way he said it, and realized that them sleeping in the same room as him was what was supposed to happen. “Okayyy… but do they have to sleep naked!?”

The Annas promptly started to get comfortable. Snuggling up to one another or just sleeping all over the place. Two of them even grabbed onto him to use him as some sort of hug pillow! “Great... So this is my life now. But… I suppose it’s not too bad, it could be worse...right?” he thought tiredly. The feeling of their warmth and the sense of protection he felt through their connection made him feel safe. It took a while, but eventually, he did fall into a peaceful sleep.